The world of international food retail has undoubtedly got a little less international in recent years and 2014 looks likely to see the big guns continue to take an empire-building breather and sort out their troubled home markets while undertaking only modest overseas activities. Glynn Davis reports.

It is, for both sides, an investment that can help improve their reputations. Tesco's plan to run multi-brand retail outlets in India demonstrates to the market the UK retailer, for all its problems, still has plans for growth. India's government will be happy that, 15 months after it pushed through plans to allow overseas players to invest in multi-brand retailers, someone has finally taken the bait.

In September last year, India's government relaxed regulations allowing foreign direct investment (FDI) in multi-brand retail. One year on and the reaction from international investors has been lukewarm. Michelle Russell takes a look at why international grocery retailers have not yet taken advantage of the new rules and whether this is likely to change in the foreseeable future.

On Monday (30 December), India's foreign investment watchdog reportedly cleared Tesco's move to become the first overseas retailer to run multi-brand retail outlets. Industry watchers are now looking to see which other multinational could follow in the UK grocer's footsteps.